Do Something Nice for Someone Today

This past Sunday, Maeby’s nails needed a trim, so I drove to the Petco around the corner. I’d been putting it off for over a week, even though it’s a two minute drive away, and after laying around most of Sunday, I decided it was time to stop being so lazy.

As we approached the doors of the grooming section of the store, I stopped and let Maeby sniff around. I noticed an older woman holding her small dog, who was wrapped in a towel and clearly very old. She pointed to Maeby and asked her dog if he liked “the big dog” and we exchanged smiles. As Maeby continued to sniff around, I noticed the woman was kneeling, with her dog struggling to stand on the grass in front of her, and I heard her sniffling. As I looked more closely, I noticed she was crying.

I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate, as in our culture today, I’d argue many people don’t want to be bothered. But this woman seemed very upset, so I asked if she was okay, and began walking over with Maeby. She then told me that her dog was scheduled to be euthanized later that day, as he wasn’t eating and wasn’t able to stand, and she had just taken him into Petco to look at the cats, since he used to live with cats and loved them. I offered the woman a hug, which she accepted, and we continued talking about her dog, Pepe. I told her stories about Oscar, and did my best to comfort her. Even Maeby, who is usually out of control (it’s really embarrassing sometimes, actually), sensed something was going on and was very gentle with this older dog and sweeter than usual to this woman.

When we were done talking, we had exchanged names and a few more hugs, and she seemed to genuinely appreciate that I stopped and asked if she was okay.

The point of this story is this: Go out of your way to do something nice for someone today. It could be as simple as holding a door open or buying coffee for the person behind you at the drive-thru. And if you’re not sure, put yourself in that person’s shoes and imagine how you’d feel if someone did that same nice thing for you.